An interlude in England

A view of Portsmouth Harbour

It may not have seemed so at the time, but in many ways, William McKay was a lucky man. He had been found guilty of desertion and fraud and had been stripped of his rank but only spent a few months in jail. Now he and his family were back on British soil.

Being busted back down to sapper, also meant less pay. It must have been difficult to cope. Perhaps William tried to find other work but he had been brought up in the military. He joined at the age of 14 but even before that he was part of a military family. The 1851 census showed him as a child of two living with his father, Donald McKay, a corporal in the Royal Sappers and Miners. Typically, the birthplaces of the family were all different: Donald McKay born in Scotland; his wife Deborah born in Ireland; their daughter Anne in Ilfracombe, Devon; and William himself in Slingsby, Yorkshire. I have been unable to find Donald McKay and his family in later censuses but when William McKay joined up in 1863, it was in Ireland and the difficulty of finding records in that country may explain why I couldn't find them.

Living with the military from such an early age many have made it difficult for William McKay to consider any other type of life. Perhaps that was why on May 25, 1877 his service record stated: "re-engaged at Portsmouth to complete 21 years of service." But it wasn't just himself he was signing up, as his wife and children were also part of the deal. I wonder how Henrietta felt about the potential of being sent to some overseas outpost again.

But for now, the McKay family was stationed in England. Did it provide Henrietta with the opportunity to see her own family? They weren't far away whether in Weymouth or Jersey, the Chubb's next place of settlement. I like to think that she met up with them while she still could because everything was not well with the Chubb family.

Sources:

Find My Past – British Army Service Records 1760-1915 Records of William McKay enlisted 23^rd July, 1863

Find My Past – 1851 England, Wales & Scotland Census entry for Donald McKay and family